State of Emergency 2

The original State of Emergency was one of Rockstar’s early takes on producing a riot like environment. The game sold more than one and a half million copies so it would be inevitable that a sequel would come out. State of Emergency 2 is headed your way on the PlayStation 2 and we got an advance preview copy to check out.

The game features 12 missions in single player mode and works in that large crowd factor again. There are specifically nine different types of enemies with an improved AI. Not only will you be going out on foot but there will be various vehicles that can help aid you in your cause for destruction.

Like the original, you are playing in a third person view of the action. As you progress you’ll pick up new weapons from enemies or just see some laying around. You’ll be able to pick up pistols, shotguns, and sniper rifles to name a few. You’ll have problems running out of ammo on the common guns as most of the guys you gun down will drop something. You’ll need the ammo as there will be a great number of enemies that you’ll need to take down to accomplish your goal.

The preview build's graphics look pretty complete and it does look a better than the original. The characters are more rounded and exhibit more polygons for better detail. The crowds are still there and to have the game run at a good pace with all the moving people is a testament to the programming of the game. Good facial animations help breath some life into the characters. Animations were fluid from the crowds to the enemies you’ll be facing along with your own character’s range of moves.

If you found aiming hard in FPS games using the controller, you'll find the same result here. It took a little time for me to get used to but the game's pretty good in being generous to register a hit when your cursor is near a person. It does turn red when you are able to hit someone and you can adjust the sensitivity of the aiming.

One nice thing I did notice was there are some locational damage. I took out a few guards with a sniper rifle in the leg and saw them clutch the stump as they went down. One headshot is usually fatal so that's where you would want to aim. You get a nice array of death animations depending on where you do hit the enemies.

As stated earlier, the improved AI offered some challenge in the preview build. Some of the guys would run up to you and try to gun you down but I did face some guys who would use cover and hide around corners. While most of the enemies I faced in the demo weren’t smart, there are a few that will surprise you and take a little more effort in bringing down.

Let’s face it, with the history of this game you should know that it’s definitely not for kids. Besides the language, the violence is pretty graphic so be responsible and keep this one away from the young ones. There’s plenty of blood throughout the game and while it’s still cartoony in the way violence is done, you shouldn’t let young kids watch or play this one.

There are 15 arcade challenges that are taken from the single player game. Like a competition, you can earn medals based on the scores you receive in the challenge. Some of the challenges involve sniper protecting a friend, gunning down enemies in a turret, and racing a speed boat through rings. The challenges are a nice diversion from the single player game and should add some life into State of Emergeny 2 after you finish the game.

If you want to play with a friend, there will be five multiplayer modes for 1-4 players. From deathmatch to Last Man Standing to Battle mode, there should be plenty of action for you and your friends to experience.

With the recent announcement that the game has went gold, you don’t have to wait long to pick up State of Emergency 2. I’m still impressed at how the developers push the PlayStation 2 with the amount of characters that interact on screen and with the improved looks; this game could find their way into the library of many gamers. Action gamers will want to keep an eye out on this one.

* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company for review.

About Author

I've been reviewing products since 1997 and started out at Gaming Nexus. After writing for a few different sites that went under, it's nice to bring back a site that's not dependent on revenue and just wants to deliver news and reviews of products.